Ram Sundar Das (; 9 January 1921 – 6 March 2015) was an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Bihar state. He was a two-time Member of Parliament from Hajipur constituency. Early life and family Das was born on 9 January 1921 into Chamar caste in Gangajal near Sonpur, Saran District in Bihar. He matriculated from a school in Sonpur and attended Vidyasagar College in Calcutta. He dropped out of college to join the Indian freedom movement. He was married to Savita Devi in 1956 and had three children, two sons and one daughter. Political career He played an active role in 1942 Quit India Movement. Das served as a functionary in Congress Socialist Party in his native place Sonpur. The Congress Socialist Party, through a series of mergers became a part of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP). Das served as member of PSP's Bihar Provincial Executive Council. In 1957 Lok Sabha elections, he was Socialists' losing candidate from Hajipur. Later he would win the seat twice. In 1968, he was elected as a Member of Bihar's legislative council and continued in this role until 1977. In the 1977 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, that led to a decisive defeat of the ruling Indian National Congress at the hands of Janata party, Das was elected as the MLA for Sonpur. Janata Party was a recent amalgam of disparate groups including Indian National Congress (O), Bharatiya Lok Dal, Socialists and Jana Sangh. In fight in the party broke over the question of Chief Minister, Karpoori Thakur's decision to implement the Mungeri Lal Commission report, that recommended the institution of reservations for Backward Castes in government jobs. Upper caste members of Janata Party tried to water down the reservation policy by unseating Thakur as Chief Minister. To wean away Dalit MLAs, Das, a Dalit himself, was nominated as the candidate. Though Das and Thakur were both Socialist, Das was considered more moderate and accommodative than the Chief Minister. Thakur resigned and Das became the Chief Minister of Bihar on 21 April 1979. The reservation law was weakened by allowing upper castes to obtain a greater percentage of government jobs. The internal tensions in Janata Party caused it to split into multiple factions which led to Congress returning to power in 1980. In the late 1980s, some of the remnants of Janata Party had come together to form Janata Dal, which formed a